My Ground Rules for Conversations About Race.

If there is one thing that has  been made abundantly clear in light of the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, is that we as a society still have a ways to go when it comes to settling our racial questions.  Thus, there is a need for greater conversations concerning racial matters, in our homes, in our communities and in our churches.  

One of the things that hinders us from having these conversations is that the conversations are often short-circuited.  Things get said that we find offensive or things get said which don't fit our particular  paradigm and we withdraw from the conversation.  

Perhaps if we had a set of ground rules to guide our racial conversations the conversations could be more productive.  I claim no expertise in this area but in the last few weeks I have done some listening. I have observed some stumbling blocks that have prevented productive conversations.  To that end I am going to offer some simple ground rules that I am adopting to improve my conversations about race.

Before I offer my ground rules allow me state that I do as a White male from the south with all the good and bad that brings. Therefore, these thoughts are in many ways confessional. I acknowledge that these may completely miss the mark in the eyes of some.  To some they may be radical.  To others they may not claim enough  That said, this a result of examining my own thinking, my own conversations and my own soul.  

I will not assume what another person is thinking or feeling.  Actually this is pretty good advice for any conversation that is contentious.  In any conversation I am only responsible for my feelings and my thoughts. I cannot assume other's thoughts for them but rather listen as they express them.

I understand that bad acts by one group do not absolve others for the responsibility of their bad acts.  Allow me to be blunt here.  As many protests over the death of George Floyd have devolved into rioting and looting, there has been a tendency by some to look at this as a reason to minimize what took place in Minnesota.  I refuse to do this. While some have not expressed themselves in a way I might deem acceptable these expressions in no way justify what happened to George Floyd.  Nor do the alleged murders of George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery justify rioting and looting.  One wrong does not make the other's wrong right.

I believe Black lives matter.  Saying those words and believing those words do not mean that I believe the lives of other ethnic and racial groups do not matter.  When I say"Black lives matter" I acknowledge I live  in a culture and society that at times has not valued the lives of Black people. I am asserting that Black lives have sacred worth.  Saying "Black lives matter" does not make my  non-black life matter any less. 

  

I will be careful using the word racist.  In the most literal sense of the word a racist is a person who believes that one race is superior to another.  Sadly, those people exist in our society.  Even worse, some of those people act on those feelings in vile and destructive ways.  "Racist" is both a noun that names a person and an adjective which describes attitudes and actions.  I am not a racist.  That said, just because someone may disagree with me in a discussion of racial issues doesn't make them a racist.  They may be a racist but that is up to God to decide and not me.

I am not blameless and have never been blameless in my racial attitudes.  Though, I've never hated anyone on account of their race, I must admit that there have been times my racial attitudes have fallen short of what God would have them be.  There have been times that I have made assumptions based on the race of another.  Because I am not perfect, I must treat those that I encounter in conversations about race with love and grace, rather than from a position of self-righteousness.

I understand that we are on a journey.  I know the history of our nation.  I have taught that history to high school students.  I know that the world into which I was born is not the world in which we now live and that is good. However, I also know that the world in which I now live is not the world God intends. I also know we continue to live with the residual effects of past wrongs. We can do better.

I believe that discussions about race are moral discussions and not political ones.  While race questions sometimes become political they are ultimately a matter of right or wrong rather than a matter of political ideologies.

I acknowledge that life for Black people is different than it is for me for reasons that are beyond their control.  The police were called on George Floyd for allegedly passing a counterfeit twenty dollar bill to a store clerk.  This ended with his loss of life. I also know this-every time I have handed a twenty dollar bill to a store clerk and the clerk used a marker on the bill that would indicate whether or not the bill was counterfeit, I've never had to worry that I would be killed if my twenty dollar bill didn't pass the test.  I also know this--like Ahmaud Arbery, I have walked through homes under construction.  No one ever assumed I was a burglar.

My conversations about race will be grounded in my belief that Jesus Christ is Lord. Paul concludes Galatians 3:28 by saying that "All are one in Christ Jesus."  Jesus tells us in John 15:12 to "love one another as I have loved you."  Understanding that we are all made in the image of God I will seek to do his will when I have conversations about race.

John Brown, Jr.
June 2020
Athens, Georgia